NEW YORK – NXT Health, a nonprofit organization dedicated to collaborative design innovation to improve the delivery of care, unveiled Patient Room 2020, an interactive healthcare living laboratory that responds to needs of doctors, nurses, patients and their families by creating a safer, more streamlined, integrated and restorative environment.

NXT Health recruited more than 35 product and service partners to contribute to the creation of Patient Room 2020. Through their product and service donations was able to deliver on its promise to create an environment that could solve some of the greatest challenges facing healthcare design and delivery. Partners range from lighting design experts and specialty glass manufacturers to custom fabricators.

The room was installed in a custom space at the DuPont™ Corian® Design Studio in New York City, which is owned by DuPont, Evans & Paul, and Dolan & Traynor.

“Hospitals have to do more with less, medical decisions require even more analysis, and we are more dependent on specialized technologies to most effectively treat patients and create an environment in which providers can thrive,” says Salley Whitman, executive director of NXT Health. “By streamlining complexities and leveraging evidence-based design and innovation tools, Patient Room 2020 is a catalyst for industry leaders concerned with solutions that save lives, time and money.”

The 400-square-foot patient room prototype leverages a broad collection of technologies that addresses five key aspects of design:

Patient Ribbon: collects many of the disparate elements commonly found in healthcare environments into a single, streamlined, patient-centered design response that encompasses headwall to footwall

Patient Companion: combines two ubiquitous elements, an over bed table and a touch screen tablet, to form a single piece of mobile furniture that could be utilized in a wide range of healthcare settings.

Open Bathroom: adaptable bathroom concept that features a sliding door system which can be reconfigured based on care needs